Christian Unity Is a Priority, Pope Declares in Sweden... from ZENIT in Roswell, Georgia, United States for Monday, 31 October 2016

Christian Unity Is a Priority, Pope Declares in Sweden... from ZENIT in Roswell, Georgia, United States for Monday, 31 October 2016
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Christian Unity Is a Priority, Pope Declares in Sweden by Kathleen Naab

“Christian unity is a priority, because we realize that much more unites us than separates us,” Pope Francis affirmed today in Sweden, at a series of ecumenical events during his 24-hour trip to the country to commemorate the anniversary of the start of the Reformation.
Noting the 50 years of ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans, the Pope said that the journey to attain unity is “itself a great gift that God gives us.”
One of the fruits of this dialogue, the Holy Father noted, is cooperation in works of mercy. The Pope’s address followed four testimonies from people who spoke of the needs of the world. Following Francis’ speech, a bishop of Aleppo also gave his testimony.
The Pope said these “powerful witnesses,” make us “think of our own lives and how we respond to situations of need all around us.”
“For us Christians,” he said, “it is a priority to go out and meet the outcasts and the marginalized of our world, and to make felt the tender and merciful love of God, who rejects no one and accepts everyone.”
Speaking specifically of Syria, Pope Francis noted how every day, the news tells us of the “unspeakable suffering caused by the Syrian conflict, which has now lasted more than five years.”
He said that every one of the Syrian people “is in our hearts and prayers.”
“Let us implore the grace of heartfelt conversion for those responsible for the fate of that region,” he said.
Finally, the Pope exhorted: “Dear brothers and sisters, let us not become discouraged in the face of adversity. May the stories we have heard motivate us and give us new impetus to work ever more closely together. When we return home, may we bring with us a commitment to make daily gestures of peace and reconciliation, to be valiant and faithful witnesses of Christian hope.”
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On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full text: https://zenit.org/articles/popes-address-at-ecumenical-event-at-malmo/
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Pope in Sweden: Our Separation Has Enabled Better Understanding of Some Aspects of Faith by Kathleen Naab

Half a millennium after the Reformation, Catholics and Lutherans have a “new opportunity to accept a common path,” says Pope Francis.
The Pope said this today in Sweden, where he is on an ecumenical journey to commemorate the start of the Reformation by focusing on the 50 years of dialogue that have highlighted the points of unity between Catholics and Lutherans.
We cannot be “resigned to the division and distance that our separation has created between us,” he said. “We have the opportunity to mend a critical moment of our history by moving beyond the controversies and disagreements that have often prevented us from understanding one another.”
Speaking of God the Father as the vinedresser who tends and prunes the vine to make it bear more fruit, the Bishop of Rome said there should be recognition that “our division distanced us from the primordial intuition of God’s people, who naturally yearn to be one, and that it was perpetuated historically by the powerful of this world rather than the faithful people.”
“Certainly, our separation has been an immense source of suffering and misunderstanding, yet it has also led us to recognize honestly that without [Jesus] we can do nothing; in this way it has enabled us to understand better some aspects of our faith,” he said.
The Pope said that with gratitude we can “acknowledge that the Reformation helped give greater centrality to sacred Scripture in the Church’s life.”
He also said that Martin Luther, “with the concept ‘by grace alone,’” reminds us that God “always takes the initiative, prior to any human response, even as he seeks to awaken that response. The doctrine of justification thus expresses the essence of human existence before God.”
The Pope then reiterated the need for unity in order to give witness to our faith.
We pray, he said, “‘Grant us the gift of unity, so that the world may believe in the power of your mercy.’ This is the testimony the world expects from us. We Christians will be credible witnesses of mercy to the extent that forgiveness, renewal and reconciliation are daily experienced in our midst. Together we can proclaim and manifest God’s mercy, concretely and joyfully, by upholding and promoting the dignity of every person. Without this service to the world and in the world, Christian faith is incomplete.”
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On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full text: https://zenit.org/articles/popes-homily-at-ecumenical-prayer-service-in-lund/
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Pope Asks Journalists to Help People Understand Sweden Visit by ZENIT Staff

From Vatican Radio:

Greeting media professionals travelling on board the papal plane to Malmo on Monday morning, Pope Francis said: “This journey is important because it is an ecclesial journey, it’s very ecclesial in the field of ecumenism. Your work will be a big contribution in making sure people understand well.”
Pope Francis is in Sweden for a two-day apostolic journey where, together with the heads of the Lutheran World Federation he is jointly presiding at an ecumenical prayer service in Lund cathedral, followed by a public witness event in the nearby city of Malmö.
On Tuesday morning, All Saints Day, the Pope will celebrate Mass in Malmö for Sweden’s tiny Catholic community.
The formal occasion for the Pope’s visit to Sweden is to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The event comes as the culmination of years of theological progress, from the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in 1999, to the publication of a shared history of the Reformation in the 2013 document ‘From Conflict to Communion’.
Before travelling to the Lutheran Cathedral of Lund for the joint ecumenical prayer service on Monday afternoon, an official welcome ceremony at Malmö International Airport saw state and religious authorities on the tarmac to receive Pope Francis. As per protocol, the Prime Minister of the host country, Sweden’s Stefan Löfven, and the Minister of Culture and Democracy meet privately with the Pope at the Airport.
The Pope also payed a courtesy visit to the Swedish King and Queen, Carl XVI Gustav and Silvia, at Lund’s Royal Palace (the Kungshuset).
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Bishop Conley Gives 3 Points on What We Need to Evangelize Today’s Culture by Bishop James Conley

Here is the text of a presentation given by Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, for the Catholic Answers Evangelization Conference, republished here from the Southern Nebraska Register.
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October 29, 2016
Bishop James Conley
Dear friends in Christ,
I am very glad to be here with you for this conference sponsored by Catholic Answers and Spirit Catholic Radio. I am grateful that you have come to spend the day being formed for the mission of the new evangelization.
Some of the very best Catholic leaders in the country are here today, and I am honored to be asked to speak at this conference with them. I am especially humbled to follow my good friend Patrick Coffin – although I was confused by his talk. This spring I started raising chickens in my backyard in Lincoln. I thought Patrick’s talk “Apologetics for Chickens” was going tell me how to better evangelize my chickens!
I am also very grateful to our host, Creighton University.
Creighton is a very good place for us to talk about the mission of the new evangelization, the formation of Christian culture, and your responsibility, as lay men and women, for the Gospel.
This university is named for Edward Creighton, who came to Nebraska as a young man in 1856. He was a businessman: he helped build telegraph lines across the west, and he founded banks and railroads. But Edward Creighton was also an evangelist, in the best sense of the word.
When he came to Omaha, it was a frontier town of just a few thousand people. But it was growing, with immigrants, and laborers, transients, and with families. And as it grew, Edward Creighton built the infrastructure of a community rooted in faith. He built churches and sponsored priests; he brought religious sisters to Omaha to establish hospitals. He spoke out against slavery and the mistreatment of native people. He paid just wages. He gave his wife $25 every day, an amount close to $400 today, and asked her to buy and distribute whatever poor families needed.
Edward Creighton wanted Omaha to be defined by its commitment to the Gospel. And he knew that depended on its leadership. He left the biggest portion of his fortune to found a university which would form Catholic leaders, capable of building and transforming the world for Jesus Christ. That is the foundation, the legacy, and the responsibility of Creighton University.
Edward Creighton was serious about living as a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ. He served the poor and the sick. He spoke out against injustice, and he worked to end it. His vision has formed generations of young men and women who want to live in this world as Christians. Creighton wasn’t perfect, but he was faithful. And that’s the legacy of the Church in Nebraska; the legacy of the ordinary Catholics who have come before us.
Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of resting on the fruit of what good Catholics before us have built. We cannot be a Church of maintenance, as George Weigel reminds us in Evangelical Catholicism. We are a Church “permanently in mission.” God will judge each one of us on whether we have become his disciples, and whether we have made disciples of all nations, as Jesus commanded. We are each called to become the saints the world needs now.
Pope St. John Paul II taught that saints step forward, into a world needing the Gospel, when no one else will. That’s what Edward Creighton, along with his wife Mary and his brother John, did.
We are each called to step forward, as missionary disciples to the time and place in which we live. And to be effective missionaries, we need to understand our territory. We need know our audience. Edward Creighton know his own times; he had his finger on the pulse of the culture in which he lived.
This morning, I’d like to talk about the America of today, the Church of today, and about what it means for each one of us to become the saints of our times. I would like to devote the first part of my talk to a brief reflection on the cultural landscape in which we live, and in the second part offer three suggestions for sharing the faith, and living as missionary disciples.
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I have said before that today’s America is becoming defined by a kind of utilitarian, technocratic gnosticism.
That sounds complicated, but the idea is simple, and I’ll explain it:
The moral compass of our political and cultural leaders seems mostly governed by a set of false ideas: That we can define reality according to our preferences. That we can remake every human relationship according to the power of our wills. That we have the unconditional right to use technology or wealth to overcome the limitations of our humanity, or achieve whatever we think will make us happy.
In 1992, Justice Anthony Kennedy, an Irish-Catholic like Edward Creighton, wrote in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey that “at the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.”
The sexual revolution told us that freedom means defining the limits of reality for ourselves, instead of encountering, understanding, and accepting reality as it is.
Those ideas have roots in the philosophical enlightenment that begat modern democracy. And for that reason, Christianity has always existed in a kind of uneasy tension with modern democracy. But it took the sexual revolution, begun five decades ago, to tip the balance of that tension, and to pose new and serious challenges for Catholics, and for our nation.
To understand the America we live in, we need to understand that the sexual revolution was really an anthropological revolution. The advent of contraception, and legal protection for abortion, unmade the basic biological meaning of sexual intercourse. And when it did, it gave life and energy to the idea that human beings can unmake and refashion every part of what it means to be a person, a family, and a community.
In just a few decades, the sexual revolution has remade most of what America’s cultural and political leaders believe about morality. In a culture where life’s meaning is self-defined, and technological progress can unshackle human desires from the limitations of our bodies, moral choices seem irrelevant to many people. In place of asking what we ought to do, the only relevant question in a technocracy like ours is what we can do.
In his book Technopoly, Neil Postman says that overly technological cultures, “driven by the impulse to invent, have as their aim a grand reductionism in which human life must find its meaning in machinery and technique.”
Here is just one example: Two weeks ago, a Silicon Valley technology company announced that it had raised $200 million dollars to begin a new initiative: genetically sequencing lab-created embryos, in order to deliver children free from major and minor genetic defects, especially for older couples. This is the technology that can create babies formed to parents’ specifications, and it’s becoming available and affordable in America.
Cultural leaders say projects like this give freedom for parents to “have it all.” Political leaders rush to give them grants or tax breaks. But we don’t stop to take into account the meaning of what we’re doing. We don’t consider that projects like these create embryos in laboratories, and then leave them to die. We don’t consider the costs of remaking and reshaping human life itself according to our preferences.
In a technocracy, ethical concerns are level led by technological ability. And those of us who dare to raise objections are seen as backward, or enemies of progress, and because of this we face very real consequences.
In 1994, Pope St. John Paul II said that this kind of “progress” leads to “a war of the powerful against the weak.” The America of today is living in that war. The enemies of progress are religious believers who raise concerns about human dignity and objective moral reality. The enemies of technocracy are those who speak for the weak in the face of the powerful. Religious liberty is threatened today mostly because when we speak for the vulnerable, or for the rights of conscience, we dare to call into question the tyranny of progress.
The victims of the war of the powerful against the weak are those who can’t contribute to progress, or efficiency, or profit. There is very little room in a culture like ours for people who represent inconvenience, who might stand in the way of maximizing the happiness of the powerful. In a technocratic culture like ours, there is very little room for the poor, the elderly, the disabled, or the unborn.
Moral decision-making is being reshaped by the technocratic revolution. And each one us is suffering the consequences.
This year, Washington, DC and Colorado are considering laws that will allow doctors to help sick patients end their lives. Euthanasia is already legal in three other states.
In the debate over euthanasia, one thing has been particularly troubling to me. People who are interested in assisted suicide don’t usually report being afraid of pain or suffering. They usually report being afraid of becoming a burden. They sometimes report being afraid of being abandoned.
No one should be afraid of burdening his family. But in the technocratic worldview, there is no greater sin than depending on the help of others.
The fruit of the sexual revolution is a worldview that reduces other people to objects—that sees them as a means to an end, or as obstacles to our happiness. The fruit of the sexual revolution is a culture that tells our grandparents they are burdens.
When we reduce other people to objects, we lose the relationships that give life meaning. We lose the ability to love. America today is becoming a very lonely place. True friendship is becoming a rare commodity. Each of us knows families who sit at the dinner table, each person staring at his own screen, not sure how to have real and meaningful conversations with one another. Pornography has become a public health crisis, in part because the intimacy required in real marital relationships is becoming too difficult, and is too easily replaced by isolated self-gratification.
The philosopher Matthew Crawford observes that when we aren’t careful, our technology can turn on us—instead of using tools to achieve our good, our tools can become the standard of goodness.
The America of today is a good and beautiful place. The people of our nation are good, and earnest, and admirable. But the technocratic revolution of our time, and especially the sexual revolution, has turned on us, and revealed deep social, political, and cultural problems that can only be resolved through Jesus Christ.
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Today we are talking about how to follow the Lord’s mandate to make disciples of all nations, and how, especially, to make disciples of this nation. Again, in order to be good missionary disciples, we need to know the mission field. We need to know the cultural landscape in which we live.
I’d like to suggest three points about our call to become the evangelists, and saints—the missionary disciples—of this modern moment. These are by no means the only ways to become better evangelists of our culture, but I hope you might find them useful.
The first point is that we’re called to be disciples before all else. Before we’re Americans, before we’re missionaries, before we’re anything else, we need to become disciples of Jesus Christ and therefore true friends of Jesus and his Church.
Before we can proclaim Jesus, or witness to him, we need to follow him closely. We need to follow him through Scriptures, praying with Scripture itself, learning how Jesus prayed, learning how he taught. We need to follow Jesus by following his Church—by living a sacramental life, in which Mass, and confession, and the spiritual life of the Church form the contours of our hearts and minds. We need to learn how Jesus taught, in part by learning how and what the Church teaches. The only way that we can convey Christ is by knowing him, and following him, at every point of our lives.
The Greek word the New Testament writers used for disciple is “mathetes,” which literally means “apprentice.” As we follow Jesus, we need to become his apprentices. Apprentices learn by watching, by asking questions, by patterning themselves after their masters. Even before they learn his techniques or practices, apprentices learn who the master is, how he carries himself, how he thinks, how he makes judgments. All of those things go into his training. In the medieval world, an apprentice copied his master’s work, painstakingly, over and over again, before he attempted his own. He learned his own craft by imitating every piece of his master’s life.
The defining characteristic of Christ’s life is love. And if we become the apprentices of Jesus, we’ll learn how to love. Love is a sign of contradiction in our world. Love—real, true, sacrificial and self-denying love—has been replaced in popular imagination by romantic sentimentality. And without real love, St. Paul tells us we’ll be “resounding gongs” and “clashing symbols.”
If we really learn to love, as Christ did—if we are apprentices of love—we’ll be prepared to transform the world in his name.
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My second point is that becoming evangelists today requires that we become signs of contradiction.
GK Chesterton says that each generation is converted by the saint who contradicts it most.
If we are going to make disciples in the stark, technocratic, lonely culture of American public life, we need to become signs of contradiction. In today’s world, that means that we are called embrace what the world rejects: friendship, beauty, goodness, truth, weakness, suffering, joy, and hope. If we are going to become the saints of this moment it will be because we embrace the reality of human life, living fully and freely, because of the hope that we have in Jesus Christ.
Becoming a sign of contradiction is not the same as becoming contrarian. Evangelization is not a war with the world. Nor does becoming a sign of contradiction mean withdrawing from the world. The world is already mired in conflict, and fractured and atomized. Becoming a sign of contradiction means witnessing to something more delightful, more profound, and more meaningful than what our world offers.
Evangelization is an invitation, expressed in love, to encounter, love, and serve the living God. Evangelization is a witness to the real peace, joy, and hope of life in Jesus Christ.
This Thursday, I had the privilege of leading a candlelit Eucharistic procession through the Lincoln campus of the University of Nebraska. Over 500 college students walked in the procession. We stopped at three outdoor altars for prayers and benediction, one in front of the student union, one in front of Memorial Stadium (right in front of the statue of Bob Devaney!), and one on the corner of “Fraternity and Sorority Row” on 16th street. The students sang hymns as we walked. It was a powerful witness of public faith, and a powerful sign of contradiction.
The third altar was across from the Lutheran Student Center. As we passed by, Newman Center students signaled to students standing at the window to come and join us—and they did! Five Lutheran students joined in the procession back to the Newman Center, where we had the concluding benediction and the Divine Praises.
I met these students after the procession, and we talked, in a spirited and meaningful conversation, about the Eucharist. It was wonderful!
Every human heart is made for love. Every human wants to be free. Thirty years of priesthood have taught me that every single soul is seeking mercy.
God made us that way. And becoming signs of contradictions means witnessing to the love, and freedom, and mercy that we have experienced in Jesus Christ.
Becoming signs of contradiction means forming authentic friendships and authentic communities. Becoming signs of contradiction means witnessing to the freedom that comes from the sacrifice and self-denial of real love. Becoming signs of contradiction means promoting the true, the good, and in our culture, most especially the beautiful. Being signs of contradiction means sharing that Jesus Christ is a person, whom we know, and love, and whom we have experienced loving us.
A few weeks ago, I was invited by friends to a “house concert” in their basement. There were about 20 of us, from different religious and cultural backgrounds. For two hours, we listened to a folk ballad singer, who sang Scottish and Irish ballads, and cowboy songs, and ancient hymns. It was real. It was simple. It was beautiful. It was not utilitarian or self-serving. It was not glamorous or extravagant. It was a simple experience of unity, and laughter, and hospitality. It was an experience of friendship, and quiet contemplation, and peace.
That small concert was a sign of contradiction to the isolation and self-interest of the world. And it moved me to gratitude, to wonder at beauty of song and poetry, the goodness of friendship, and the majesty of God.
“House concerts,” and family celebrations, and Bible studies, book clubs and friendships are all signs of contradiction to the world. So is the beauty of the music, and art, and literature of Western culture. So is the ministry of real encounter and friendship with the elderly, the disabled, and the poor.
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This summer at World Youth Day, Pope Francis said something very profound at the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, He said that “God saves us by making himself little, near and real.”
That’s true. Each one of us can know God, and love him, and follow him because we have the experience of his reality, through which we can say “Love looks like this. Truth speaks this way. Salvation has come, in this man, Jesus of Nazareth, who is not a proposition or a conclusion, but a person.”
Becoming signs of contradiction means speaking, from one heart to another, of the love of Jesus Christ, who is small, near, real. God calls each one of us to that mission.
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My final point is that we should expect, as we become evangelists to our modern culture, to face opposition and obstacles. We face threats to religious liberty in this country because our prophetic voice makes sin uncomfortable. The confidence of believers in the truth of the Gospel is an affront to tyrants. Our witness to charity, even, when juxtaposed with greed and evil in this world, is a threat to those who advance themselves by immorality or selfishness.
Believers live in this world, but we do not live like the world lives. For that, since the first days of the Church’s life, we face trials and challenges.
Pope Francis says that we’re called to be missionaries of mercy. And part of being merciful means telling the truth. Truth without mercy can be cold and harsh, and mercy without truth is a counterfeit. Last week, my friend Archbishop Charles Chaput said that “mercy means nothing – it’s just an exercise in sentimentality – without clarity about moral truth.” We have an obligation to tell the truth, in love. And we should expect that telling the truth will lead to persecution.
This summer Fr. Jacques Hamel was martyred while celebrating Mass in Rouen, France. I was privileged to be in Rouen one week before his martyrdom.
It’s easy to believe that Christians in this country might soon face the cross of martyrdom. We are not immune from the persecution the Church has faced for 2,000 years.
My friends, we cannot be afraid of that persecution. We live for eternity. And we know that because of Christ’s cross, when the Church is persecuted, grace abounds. In that grace is the spread of the Gospel.
God calls us to be faithful to our mission, whether or not we see success, and whether or not we face persecution. My spiritual patron, Blessed John Henry Newman, wrote of his life that “God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission—I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am necessary for His purposes….a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work.”
God has called us to a mission. He has called us to become the saints of our time. He has called us to proclaim the Gospel, to a world longing for the Lord’s love and his truth. He has called us to be joyful, faithful, holy signs of contradiction, signs of the mercy of God. We are necessary for the Lord’s purposes. May we do the Lord’s work. May we make disciples of this nation.
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Pope’s Address at Ecumenical Event at Malmö by ZENIT Staff

Here is a Vatican translation of the address Pope Francis gave this afternoon in Sweden, at an ecumenical event held at Malmö Arena in Malmö. The Holy Father’s address followed four testimonies.
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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I thank God for this joint commemoration of the five-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation. We remember this anniversary with a renewed spirit and in the recognition that Christian unity is a priority, because we realize that much more unites us than separates us. The journey we have undertaken to attain that unity is itself a great gift that God gives us. With his help, today we have gathered here, Lutherans and Catholics, in a spirit of fellowship, to direct our gaze to the one Lord, Jesus Christ.
Our dialogue has helped us to grow in mutual understanding; it has fostered reciprocal trust and confirmed our desire to advance towards full communion. One of the fruits of this dialogue has been cooperation between different organizations of the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church. Thanks to this new atmosphere of understanding, Caritas Internationalis and the Lutheran World Federation World Service will today sign a joint agreed statement aimed at developing and strengthening a spirit of cooperation for the promotion of human dignity and social justice. I warmly greet the members of both organizations; in a world torn by wars and conflicts, they have been, and continue to be, a luminous example of commitment and service to neighbour. I encourage you to advance along the path of cooperation.
I have listened closely to those who gave the witness talks, how amid so many challenges they daily devote their lives to building a world increasingly responsive to God’s plan. Pranita talked about creation. Clearly, creation itself is a sign of God’s boundless love for us. Consequently, the gifts of nature can themselves lead us to contemplate God. I share your concern about the abuses harming our planet, our common home, and causing grave effects on the climate. As you rightly mentioned, their greatest impact is on those who are most vulnerable and needy; they are forced to emigrate in order to escape the effects of climate change. All of us, and we Christians in particular, are responsible for protecting creation. Our lifestyle and our actions must always be consistent with our faith. We are called to cultivate harmony within ourselves and with others, but also with God and with his handiwork. Pranita, I encourage you to persevere in your commitment on behalf of our common home.
Mgr Héctor Fabio told us of the joint efforts being made by Catholics and Lutherans in Colombia. It is good to know that Christians are working together to initiate communitarian and social processes of common interest. I ask you to pray in a special way for that great country, so that, through the cooperation of all, peace, so greatly desired and necessary for a worthy human coexistence, can finally be achieved. May it be a prayer that also embraces all those countries where grave conflicts continue.
Marguerite made us aware of efforts to help children who are victims of atrocities and to work for peace. This is both admirable and a summons to take seriously the countless situations of vulnerability experienced by so many persons who have no way to speak out. What you consider a mission has been a seed that has borne abundant fruit and today, thanks to that seed, thousands of children can study, grow and enjoy good health. I am grateful that even now, in exile, you continue to spread a message of peace. You said that everybody who knows you thinks that what you are doing is crazy. Of course, it is the craziness of love for God and our neighbour. We need more of this craziness, illuminated by faith and confidence in God’s providence. Keep working, and may that voice of hope that you heard at the beginning of your adventure continue to move your own heart and the hearts of many young people.
Rose, the youngest, gave us a truly moving testimony. She was able to profit from the talent God gave her through sport. Instead of wasting her energy on adverse situations, she found fufilment in a fruitful life. While I was listening to your story, I thought of the lives of so many young people who need to hear stories like yours. I would like everyone to know that they can discover how wonderful it is to be children of God and what privilege it is to be loved and cherished by him. Rose, I thank you from the heart for your efforts and your commitment to encouraging other young women to go back to school, and for the fact that you pray daily for peace in the young state of South Sudan, which so greatly needs it.
After hearing these powerful witnesses, which make us think of our own lives and how we respond to situations of need all around us, I would like to thank all those governments that assist refugees, displaced persons and asylum-seekers. For everything done to help these persons in need of protection is a great gesture of solidarity and a recognition of their dignity. For us Christians, it is a priority to go out and meet the outcasts and the marginalized of our world, and to make felt the tender and merciful love of God, who rejects no one and accepts everyone.
Shortly we will hear the testimony of Bishop Antoine, who lives in Aleppo, a city brought to its knees by war, a place where even the most fundamental rights are treated with contempt and trampled underfoot. Each day the news tells us about the unspeakable suffering caused by the Syrian conflict, which has now lasted more than five years. In the midst of so much devastation, it is truly heroic that men and women have remained there in order to offer material and spiritual assistance to those in need. It is admirable too, that you, dear brother, continue working amid such danger in order to tell us of the tragic situation of the Syrian people. Every one of them is in our hearts and prayers. Let us implore the grace of heartfelt conversion for those responsible for the fate of that region.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us not become discouraged in the face of adversity. May the stories we have heard motivate us and give us new impetus to work ever more closely together. When we return home, may we bring with us a commitment to make daily gestures of peace and reconciliation, to be valiant and faithful witnesses of Christian hope.
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Common Lutheran-Catholic Declaration Signed in Sweden by ZENIT Staff
During his visit to Sweden in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Pope Francis and Bishop Munib Yunan, President of the Lutheran World Federation, signed a Joint Declaration. The text is found below:
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Lund, 31 October 2016
«Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me» (John 15:4).
With thankful hearts
With this Joint Statement, we express joyful gratitude to God for this moment of common prayer in the Cathedral of Lund, as we begin the year commemorating the five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation. Fifty years of sustained and fruitful ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans have helped us to overcome many differences, and have deepened our mutual understanding and trust. At the same time, we have drawn closer to one another through joint service to our neighbours – often in circumstances of suffering and persecution. Through dialogue and shared witness we are no longer strangers. Rather, we have learned that what unites us is greater than what divides us.
Moving from conflict to communion
While we are profoundly thankful for the spiritual and theological gifts received through the Reformation, we also confess and lament before Christ that Lutherans and Catholics have wounded the visible unity of the Church. Theological differences were accompanied by prejudice and conflicts, and religion was instrumentalized for political ends. Our common faith in Jesus Christ and our baptism demand of us a daily conversion, by which we cast off the historical disagreements and conflicts that impede the ministry of reconciliation. While the past cannot be changed, what is remembered and how it is remembered can be transformed. We pray for the healing of our wounds and of the memories that cloud our view of one another. We emphatically reject all hatred and violence, past and present, especially that expressed in the name of religion. Today, we hear God’s command to set aside all conflict. We recognize that we are freed by grace to move towards the communion to which God continually calls us.
Our commitment to common witness
As we move beyond those episodes in history that burden us, we pledge to witness together to God’s merciful grace, made visible in the crucified and risen Christ. Aware that the way we relate to one another shapes our witness to the Gospel, we commit ourselves to further growth in communion rooted in Baptism, as we seek to remove the remaining obstacles that hinder us from attaining full unity. Christ desires that we be one, so that the world may believe (cf. John 17:21).
Many members of our communities yearn to receive the Eucharist at one table, as the concrete expression of full unity. We experience the pain of those who share their whole lives, but cannot share God’s redeeming presence at the Eucharistic table. We acknowledge our joint pastoral responsibility to respond to the spiritual thirst and hunger of our people to be one in Christ. We long for this wound in the Body of Christ to be healed. This is the goal of our ecumenical endeavours, which we wish to advance, also by renewing our commitment to theological dialogue.
We pray to God that Catholics and Lutherans will be able to witness together to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, inviting humanity to hear and receive the good news of God’s redeeming action. We pray to God for inspiration, encouragement and strength so that we may stand together in service, upholding human dignity and rights, especially for the poor, working for justice, and rejecting all forms of violence. God summons us to be close to all those who yearn for dignity, justice, peace and reconciliation. Today in particular, we raise our voices for an end to the violence and extremism which affect so many countries and communities, and countless sisters and brothers in Christ. We urge Lutherans and Catholics to work together to welcome the stranger, to come to the aid of those forced to flee because of war and persecution, and to defend the rights of refugees and those who seek asylum.
More than ever before, we realize that our joint service in this world must extend to God’s creation, which suffers exploitation and the effects of insatiable greed. We recognize the right of future generations to enjoy God’s world in all its potential and beauty. We pray for a change of hearts and minds that leads to a loving and responsible way to care for creation.
One in Christ
On this auspicious occasion, we express our gratitude to our brothers and sisters representing the various Christian World Communions and Fellowships who are present and join us in prayer. As we recommit ourselves to move from conflict to communion, we do so as part of the one Body of Christ, into which we are incorporated through Baptism. We invite our ecumenical partners to remind us of our commitments and to encourage us. We ask them to continue to pray for us, to walk with us, to support us in living out the prayerful commitments we express today.
Calling upon Catholics and Lutherans worldwide
We call upon all Lutheran and Catholic parishes and communities to be bold and creative, joyful and hopeful in their commitment to continue the great journey ahead of us. Rather than conflicts of the past, God’s gift of unity among us shall guide cooperation and deepen our solidarity. By drawing close in faith to Christ, by praying together, by listening to one another, by living Christ’s love in our relationships, we, Catholics and Lutherans, open ourselves to the power of the Triune God. Rooted in Christ and witnessing to him, we renew our determination to be faithful heralds of God’s boundless love for all humanity.
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Pope’s Homily at Ecumenical Prayer Service in Lund by ZENIT Staff

This afternoon, a Joint Ecumenical Prayer Service took place in the Lutheran Cathedral of Lund. Upon his arrival in the Cathedral, Pope Francis was welcomed by the Primate of the Church of Sweden, Archbishop Antje Jackelen, and the Catholic Bishop of Stockholm, Mons. Anders Arborelius, both of whom accompanied the Holy Father in procession to the main altar. The procession also included representatives of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). During the celebration, after the hymns and readings and after the sermon of the General Secretary of the LWF, Rev. Martin Junge, the Holy Father gave the homily below.
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“Abide in me as I abide in you” (Jn 15:4). These words, spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper, allow us to peer into the heart of Christ just before his ultimate sacrifice on the cross. We can feel his heart beating with love for us and his desire for the unity of all who believe in him. He tells us that he is the true vine and that we are the branches, that just as he is one with the Father, so we must be one with him if we wish to bear fruit.
Here in Lund, at this prayer service, we wish to manifest our shared desire to remain one with Christ, so that we may have life. We ask him, “Lord, help us by your grace to be more closely united to you and thus, together, to bear a more effective witness of faith, hope and love”. This is also a moment to thank God for the efforts of our many brothers and sisters from different ecclesial communities who refused to be resigned to division, but instead kept alive the hope of reconciliation among all who believe in the one Lord.
As Catholics and Lutherans, we have undertaken a common journey of reconciliation. Now, in the context of the commemoration of the Reformation of 1517, we have a new opportunity to accept a common path, one that has taken shape over the past fifty years in the ecumenical dialogue between the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church. Nor can we be resigned to the division and distance that our separation has created between us. We have the opportunity to mend a critical moment of our history by moving beyond the controversies and disagreements that have often prevented us from understanding one another.
Jesus tells us that the Father is the “vinedresser” (cf. v. 1) who tends and prunes the vine in order to make it bear more fruit (cf. v. 2). The Father is constantly concerned for our relationship with Jesus, to see if we are truly one with him (cf. v. 4). He watches over us, and his gaze of love inspires us to purify our past and to work in the present to bring about the future of unity that he so greatly desires.
We too must look with love and honesty at our past, recognizing error and seeking forgiveness, for God alone is our judge. We ought to recognize with the same honesty and love that our division distanced us from the primordial intuition of God’s people, who naturally yearn to be one, and that it was perpetuated historically by the powerful of this world rather than the faithful people, which always and everywhere needs to be guided surely and lovingly by its Good Shepherd. Certainly, there was a sincere will on the part of both sides to profess and uphold the true faith, but at the same time we realize that we closed in on ourselves out of fear or bias with regard to the faith which others profess with a different accent and language. As Pope John Paul II said, “We must not allow ourselves to be guided by the intention of setting ourselves up as judges of history but solely by the motive of understanding better what happened and of becoming messengers of truth” (Letter to Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, President of the Secretariat for Christian Unity, 31 October 1983). God is the vinedresser, who with immense love tends and protects the vine; let us be moved by his watchful gaze. The one thing he desires is for us to abide like living branches in his Son Jesus. With this new look at the past, we do not claim to realize an impracticable correction of what took place, but “to tell that history differently” (LUTHERAN-ROMAN CATHOLIC COMMISSION ON UNITY, From Conflict to Communion, 17 June 2013, 16).
Jesus reminds us: “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (v. 5). He is the one who sustains us and spurs us on to find ways to make our unity ever more visible. Certainly, our separation has been an immense source of suffering and misunderstanding, yet it has also led us to recognize honestly that without him we can do nothing; in this way it has enabled us to understand better some aspects of our faith. With gratitude we acknowledge that the Reformation helped give greater centrality to sacred Scripture in the Church’s life. Through shared hearing of the word of God in the Scriptures, important steps forward have been taken in the dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation, whose fiftieth anniversary we are presently celebrating. Let us ask the Lord that his word may keep us united, for it is a source of nourishment and life; without its inspiration we can do nothing.
The spiritual experience of Martin Luther challenges us to remember that apart from God we can do nothing. “How can I get a propitious God?” This is the question that haunted Luther. In effect, the question of a just relationship with God is the decisive question for our lives. As we know, Luther encountered that propitious God in the Good News of Jesus, incarnate, dead and risen. With the concept “by grace alone”, he reminds us that God always takes the initiative, prior to any human response, even as he seeks to awaken that response. The doctrine of justification thus expresses the essence of human existence before God.
Jesus intercedes for us as our mediator before the Father; he asks him that his disciples may be one, “so that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21). This is what comforts us and inspires us to be one with Jesus, and thus to pray: “Grant us the gift of unity, so that the world may believe in the power of your mercy”. This is the testimony the world expects from us. We Christians will be credible witnesses of mercy to the extent that forgiveness, renewal and reconciliation are daily experienced in our midst. Together we can proclaim and manifest God’s mercy, concretely and joyfully, by upholding and promoting the dignity of every person. Without this service to the world and in the world, Christian faith is incomplete.
As Lutherans and Catholics, we pray together in this Cathedral, conscious that without God we can do nothing. We ask his help, so that we can be living members, abiding in him, ever in need of his grace, so that together we may bring his word to the world, which so greatly needs his tender love and mercy.
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Pope Francis Kicks Off Apostolic Visit to Sweden by Deborah Castellano Lubov
Pope Francis has arrived in Sweden.
At about 8:30 this morning, the papal flight, Alitalia A321, carrying the Pope, his entourage and journalists, took off from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport.
The Holy Father’s visit to Sweden, for a joint Lutheran-Catholic commemoration of the Reformation, marks his 17th international Apostolic Trip, and his 26th nation visited.
After about 2 hours 40 minutes of flying, Pope Francis arrived, slightly early, at Malmö’s International Airport at approximately 11 a.m. local time, where a welcoming ceremony was held.
On the way to Malmö, the Pope said the following words to the journalists aboard the papal flight: “Good morning to you all. I thank your company and your work. This trip is an important trip because it is an ecclesial, ecumenical journey. Your work will help very much to understand, so that people can understand [it] well. Thank you very much.”
During his intense itinerary today, the Pope will partake in joint ecumenical prayer gathering in the Lutheran Cathedral of Lund, and in an ecumenical event in the Malmö Arena, where he will conclude the day by meeting with the ecumenical delegations.
Tomorrow morning, before departing, he will celebrate Holy Mass in Malmö for Swedish Catholics.
Before leaving Italy, Pope Francis sent President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, a telegram in which he explains that his trip to Sweden is for “the ecumenical commemoration of 500th anniversary of the Reformation and to meet the nation’s Catholic community.” He also extended his “respectful greetings” to President Mattarella and imparted his apostolic blessing to the Italian people.
As is customary, the Pope sent telegrams to the Heads of States of the countries he flew over, including Austria and Germany, in which he extended similar wishes in English.
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On the NET:
For live streaming, via Vatican YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican
On ZENIT’s Web page:
Pope’s Program in Sweden: https://zenit.org/articles/program-of-popes-trip-to-sweden-for-commemoration-of-reformation-2/
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Program of Pope’s Trip to Sweden for Commemoration of Reformation by ZENIT Staff

Below is the program for Pope Francis’ Oct 31-Nov.1 trip to Sweden for the joint Lutheran-Catholic commemoration of the Reformation:October 31:The Pope departs from Rome’s Fiumicino airport at 8.20 a.m. and will arrive at 11 a.m. at Malmö, where the official welcome will be held.He will then pay a courtesy visit to the Swedish royal family in Lund.
He will participate in the joint ecumenical prayer in the Lutheran cathedral of Lund, and in the ecumenical event in the Malmö Arena, where he will conclude the day by meeting with the ecumenical delegations.
November 1:
At 9.30 a.m., he will celebrate Holy Mass in Malmö, after which he will transfer to the city’s airport for the official farewell ceremony.
At 12.45 p.m. he will depart on his return flight, and is expected to arrive at Rome’s Ciampino airport at 3.30 p.m.
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Pope Prays at Santa Maria Maggiore Before Departing for Sweden by Deborah Castellano Lubov

Saturday evening, Pope Francis traveled to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore to pray for the success of his 17th Apostolic Visit abroad to the Scandinavian nation of Sweden, Oct. 31-Nov.1.
The Holy Father almost always visits Rome’s Marian Basilica to pray for Mary’s protection and intercession before and after his papal trips.
According to the Holy See Press Office, the Pope prayed before the ancient image of Mary, Salus Populi Romani, and invoked the Virgin Mary’s protection on his travels and upon the people he will visit in the country today and tomorrow.
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Archbishop Named for Huê, Vietnam by ZENIT Staff

Pope Francis appointed Bishop Joseph Nguyên Chí Linh of Thanh Hóa, Vietnam, as Archbishop of Huê, Vietnam, and as apostolic administrator sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of the diocese of Thanh Hoa.
He succeeds Archbishop François Xavier Lê Văn Hông, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese was accepted by the Holy Father.
The Huê Archdiocese has a population of some 1.9 million, with around 69,000 Catholics. They are served by some 135 priests and 1,300 religious.
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God Looks at the Heart,’ Says Pope at Angelus... from ZENIT in Roswell, Georgia, United States for Sunday, 30 October 2016
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‘God Looks at the Heart,’ Says Pope at Angelus by Deborah Castellano Lubov

“Jesus is not resigned to closures but always opens, always opens new areas of life; He does not halt at appearances but looks at the heart.”
Pope Francis reminded the faithful in St. Peter’s Square of this during his Angelus address today at noon, while reflecting on today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, which tells of Zacchaeus, the ‘Tax Collector.’
The wealthy Zacchaeus, who exploited the people, wished to see Jesus when He was received by the crowd, and therefore, climbed up a try to do so. When Jesus arrived close to that tree, he told Zacchaeus to come down, for He had to stay at his house.
Astonishment
“We can imagine Zacchaeus’ astonishment!” Francs said. “But why did Jesus say I “must stay at your house”? What was His duty? We know that His supreme duty was to carry out the Father’s plan for humanity, which was fulfilled at Jerusalem with His condemnation to Death, Crucifixion and, on the third day, Resurrection.”
Francis noted that this is the Father of Mercy’s plan of salvation, which not only included salvation for Zaccheus, but for all sinners.
The Holy Father recalled how all grumbled as “a dishonest man scorned by all,” “in need of conversion” was called down by Jesus.
“And if Jesus had said: ‘Come down, exploiter, betrayer of the people! Come to speak with me to settle the accounts!’ No doubt the people would have applauded. Instead, they began to murmur: ‘Jesus goes to his house, that of a sinner, of an exploiter.’”
Gaze Beyond Sins, Prejudices
“Jesus’ gaze goes beyond sins and prejudices – and this is important!” the Pope stressed, saying we must learn this.
“Jesus’ gaze,” he added, “goes beyond sins and prejudices; He sees a person with the eyes of God, who does not stop at past evil, but perceives the future good.”
Francis noted that Jesus looked at Zacchaeus’ wounded heart.
“Sometimes we seek to correct and convert a sinner by reprimanding him, reproaching him his mistakes and his unjust behavior,” Francis acknowledged, reminding faithful that Jesus’ attitude with Zacchaeus “shows us another way: that of showing one in error his value, that value that God continues to see despite everything, despite all his mistakes.”
This can have surprising positive consequences, the Pope noted, namely those “which makes the heart tender and drives the person to bring out the goodness he has in himself.”
Giving individuals confidence, Pope Francis said, makes individuals grow and change.
With All of Us
“God behaves this way with all of us: He is not blocked by our sin, but overcomes it with love and makes us feel nostalgia for the good. We have all felt this nostalgia for the good after a mistake.”
Stressing that all people contain something of good inside of them, the Pope noted that God looks for this, to help people step away from sin and return to their good selves.
Before reciting the midday prayer, the Pope prayed that Mary help us to see the good there is in the persons we meet every day, “so that all are encouraged to have emerge the image of God imprinted in their heart” and that all “will be able to rejoice over the surprises of the mercy of God … Our God of surprises!”
After the prayer, the Pope recalled his upcoming visit to Sweden and those affected by the strong earthquake that struck near Norcia in Central Italy this morning.
As usual, Pope Francis concluded, wishing all present a good Sunday, good lunch, but also a Happy All Saints’ Day, and telling them not to forget to pray for him.
***
On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full Angelus Address: https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-address-on-zacchaeus-the-tax-collector/
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Pope Asks for Prayers for Upcoming Visit to Sweden, New Earthquake in Italy by Deborah Castellano Lubov

Pope Francis has called for prayers for his upcoming visit to Sweden this week and for those affected by the strong earthquake in Central Italy this morning.
During his weekly Angelus Address, the Pope reminded those in St. Peter’s Square that he will visit the southern Swedish cities of Malmö and Lund, Oct. 31-Nov. 1. This trip marks Pope Francis’ 17th Apostolic Visit abroad and his 26th nation visited.
“In the next two days,” Francis said, “I will undertake an Apostolic Journey to Sweden, on the occasion of the commemoration of the Reformation, which will see Catholics and Lutherans gathered together in remembrance and prayer.”
“I ask you all to pray so that this journey is a new stage in the journey of fraternity toward full communion.”
Also, after reciting the midday prayer, the Pope prayed for those affected by the strong, measured 6.6, earthquake that struck near the Umbrian city of Norcia in Central Italy this morning, at about 7:40 amlocal time.
Though in a statement, the Monks of Norcia noted they are fine, the basilica situated the birthplace of St. Benedict, along with many other buildings, were destroyed. This morning’s earthquake, considered to be the strongest in Italy in at least three decades, has wounded about 20 people, but no one was seriously hurt. Many locals had already left the town following the quakes that have shaked Norcia since Aug. 24. The shock was felt in Rome.
Pope Francis paid a surprise visit to Amatrice, greatly destroyed by the Aug.24 earthquake, on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi on Oct. 4.
“I express my closeness to the populations of Central Italy affected by the earthquake,” the Pope said today. “There was also a strong tremor this morning. I pray for the wounded and for the families that have suffered great damages, as well as for the personnel involved in rescue and assistance.”
“May the Risen Lord give them strength and may Our Lady protect them.”
As usual, Pope Francis concluded, asking those present to pray for him, but in addition to wishing the faithful a good lunch and good Sunday, he also wished them a Happy All Saints Day.
***
On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full Text: https://zenit.org/articles/angelus-address-on-zacchaeus-the-tax-collector/
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ANGELUS ADDRESS: On Zacchaeus ‘the Tax Collector’ by ZENIT Staff

Here is a ZENIT translation of the address Pope Francis gave today before and after praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
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Before the Angelus
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!
Today’s Gospel presents an event that happened at Jericho, when Jesus reached the city and was received by the crowd (cf. Luke 19:1-10). Zacchaeus, the head of the “publicans,” that is, of the tax collectors, lived in the city. Zacchaeus was a wealthy collaborator of the hated Roman occupiers, an exploiter of his people. He also, out of curiosity, wished to see Jesus, but his condition of public sinner did not allow him to approach the Master; moreover, he was small in stature, so he climbed up a sycamore tree, along the street where Jesus was to pass.
When Jesus arrived close to that tree, He looked up and said: “Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house.” (v. 5). We can imagine Zacchaeus’ astonishment! But why did Jesus say I “must stay at your house”? What was His duty? We know that His supreme duty was to carry out the Father’s plan for humanity, which was fulfilled at Jerusalem with His condemnation to Death, Crucifixion and, on the third day, Resurrection. It is the plan of salvation of the Father’s mercy. And, in this plan, there is also the salvation of Zacchaeus, a dishonest man scorned by all and, therefore, in need of conversion. In fact, the Gospel says that, when Jesus called him, “they began to grumble, saying, ‘He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.’ (v. 7). The people see in him a villain, who has enriched himself on the skin of his neighbor. And if Jesus had said: ‘Come down, exploiter, betrayer of the people! Come to speak with me to settle the accounts!’ No doubt the people would have applauded. Instead, they began to murmur: “Jesus goes to his house, that of a sinner, of an exploiter.
Led by mercy, Jesus, in fact, sought him. And when He entered Zacchaeus’ house, He said: “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost” (vv. 9-10). Jesus’ gaze goes beyond sins and prejudices – and this is important! We must learn this. Jesus’ gaze goes beyond sins and prejudices; He sees a person with the eyes of God, who does not stop at past evil, but perceives the future good; Jesus is not resigned to closures but always opens, always opens new areas of life; He does not halt at appearances but looks at the heart. And here, He looked at this man’s wounded heart: wounded by the sin of greed, by the many bad things Zacchaeus had done. He looks at that wounded heart and goes there.
Sometimes we seek to correct and convert a sinner by reprimanding him, reproaching him his mistakes and his unjust behavior. Jesus’ attitude with Zacchaeus shows us another way: that of showing one in error his value, that value that God continues to see despite everything, despite all his mistakes. This can cause a positive surprise, which makes the heart tender and drives the person to bring out the goodness he has in himself. It is about giving individuals confidence, which makes them grow and change. God behaves this way with all of us: He is not blocked by our sin, but overcomes it with love and makes us feel nostalgia for the good. We have all felt this nostalgia for the good after a mistake. And God Our Father, thus acts, and then Jesus acts. There is no person who does not have something good. And God looks at this to bring him out of evil.
May the Virgin Mary help us to see the good there is in the persons we meet every day, so that all are encouraged to have emerge the image of God imprinted in their heart. And so we are able to rejoice over the surprises of the mercy of God! Our God, who is the God of surprises![Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]
After the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, proclaimed Blessed yesterday at Madrid were Jose Anton Gomez, Antolin Pablos Villanueva, Juan Rafael Mariano Alcocer Martinez and Luis Vidaurrazaga Gonzalez, martyrs, killed in Spain in the last century, during the persecution against the Church. They were Benedictine priests. We praise the Lord and entrust to their intercession the brothers and sisters that unfortunately, yet today, are persecuted for their faith in Christ in several parts of the world.
I express my closeness to the populations of Central Italy affected by the earthquake. There was a strong tremor also this morning. I pray for the wounded and for the families that have suffered great damages, as well as for the personnel involved in rescue and assistance. May the Risen Lord give them strength and may Our Lady protect them.
I greet affectionately all the pilgrims of Italy and of various countries, in particular those from Ljubliana (Slovenia) and from Sligo (Ireland). I greet the participants in the world pilgrimage of hairdressers and beauticians, the National Federation of Historical Processions and Games, the youth groups of Petosino, Pogliano Milanese, Carugate and Padua. I also greet the pilgrims of UNITALSI of Sardinia.
In the next two days, I will undertake an Apostolic Journey to Sweden, on the occasion of the commemoration of the Reformation, which will see Catholics and Lutherans gathered together in remembrance and prayer. I ask you all to pray so that this journey is a new stage on the path of fraternity to full communion.
I wish you a happy Sunday – there is a beautiful sun … — and happy Feast of All Saints. And please, do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch and see you soon![Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]
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Gospel for Oct. 30 by ZENIT Staff

At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house.”
And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying,
“He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.”
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
“Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over.”
And Jesus said to him,
“Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost.”
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